Maligned Euro Is Now Winning Friends, Influencing Danes.(International Edition; GLOBAL CURRENCIES)

Byline: William Underhill

At the Euro's birth back in 1998, doomsaying economists were quick to forecast its demise. They predicted a crisis would test Europe's single currency, and that rifts would emerge as member states fought to regain control over their own economies and escape the European Central Bank's authority.

But as the latest crisis deepens, the euro is looking ever more attractive to EU countries that opted out of the 15-nation euro zone. In Denmark, where interest rates have soared as the central bank seeks to protect the krone, an early referendum on the euro looks likely, and polls indicate rising support in Sweden. Meanwhile, new member states in Eastern Europe are gearing up to meet the strict conditions for adopting the currency. Iceland--outside the EU altogether--is also looking for a chance at admission.

Even among the Brits--those diehard stay-outs--there are hints of slackening euro hostility. Last week, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told an interviewer that "people who matter in Britain" were rethinking their allegiance to the pound. While most experts agree that an application won't come soon--Prime Minister Gordon Brown is implacably opposed--the currency does have friends in high places. The euro's keenest cheerleader in British politics, Peter Mandelson, is now back in the government.

The continentwide change of heart is no mystery. Smaller nations outside ...